Vote for Miley!Anyone remember tearing through the latest Scholastic News during grade
school? Or maybe being forced to read it by a merciless second-grade
teacher with frizzy hair? Either way, every four years, this youthful
beacon of learning and news (yes, the same newspaper where you first
learned that squirrels could, in fact, water ski) puts out a
presidential election poll. And the poll has correctly predicted the
results for the past 40 years. No dimpled chads or Supreme Court
decision controversy necessary. The vote, which has been going on since
1940 has only been wrong twice since its inception - once in 1948 when
outcome went in favor of Dewey, once in 1960 when Nixon clenched the
under 18 vote. So whom did the future leaders of our country choose as
the 44th President of the United States? The poll has Barack Obama
winning 57 percent to John McCain's 37 percent. Scholastic News reports
that almost a quarter of a million kiddos, grades 1-12, voted either
online or via paper ballot. Out of the battleground states only
Colorado, Indiana and Missouri went to McCain while Florida, Iowa,
Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania went to Obama. Interestingly, four
percent of students voted for people like Stephen Colbert, Miley Cyrus
and the Jonas Brothers.

Let the Good Times Roll

Upfront spent some time this past week poring over the latest proposal for Bend's urban growth boundary. For the uninitiated, the urban growth boundary, or UGB, is a line around the city that represents the limit on residential and commercial development. The UGB concept is not unique to Oregon, but it is a central piece of the state's comprehensive land use system aimed at preserving farm and forestlands while reducing urban sprawl. In other words, it helps keep the city and rural areas free from haphazard suburban development, as we see in so many other places of the country. Bend has been working for several years on a plan to expand its urban growth boundary as the community's booming real estate economy chewed up the remaining parcels inside the city current city limits.

Under pressure from those industries the city has come up with an aggressive expansion that critics say is a blueprint for sprawl. In total the city wants to add about 6,000 "net" acres - a good chunk of it on Bend's Westside, where services like water and sewer lines are the most expensive to provide.

The UGB process is a dry one, to be sure. But if residents are concerned about managing growth, the time to get involved is now before the city adopts its blueprint for unchecked growth.

The first and possibly only hearing (thanks to a rushed schedule) before the city and county planning commissions is set for 5:30 p.m. Oct. 27 at the Deschutes County building, 1300 NW Wall St. You can see the proposed map and review the supporting documents on the city's website, ci.bend.or.us, by clicking on the UGB link on the homepage.

And It Stoned Me

Upfront hasn't much use for Oliver Stone since he dragged Al Pacino through "Any Given Sunday" but we have to admit that he's piqued our interest with his latest outing, "W", his second or, possibly third, presidential biopic, depending on whether you include "JFK".

Stone has carved a niche for himself as America's foremost conspiracy theorist, but his latest subject transcends the material. The movie charts G.W.'s unlikely ascendancy to America's highest office, including his battles with personal demons and his powerful family. The movie hits with less than a hundred days remaining in the Bush Administration and as the president's approval ratings dip to an historic low. Judging from the trailer, not always a great predictor, the movie chronicles storylines that have become familiar to most Americans with a sort of "Forrest Gump" meets "Nixon" approach.

We don't know about you, but after eight years of tortured public appearances that have made us cringe, we're ready to cuddle up to this failed president. Pass the popcorn.